Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock Price Down 6.2% on Insider Selling

Key Points

• Applied Optoelectronics shares were down 6.2% mid‑day after CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 4,000 shares for about $546,000 under a pre‑arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plan, with trading volume ~2.31M shares (≈75% below average).
• Analysts are mixed—three Buy, three Hold and one Sell—with an average MarketBeat target of $52.80, far below the stock's mid‑day price (~$137), indicating wide divergence in expectations.
• The company reported revenue up 33.9% year‑over‑year and beat EPS estimates, but set negative Q1 guidance; institutional ownership is high after large fourth‑quarter purchases, leaving a market cap of roughly $10.4B.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 6.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $135.10 and last traded at $137.3130. Approximately 2,311,388 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 9,231,631 shares. The stock had previously closed at $146.39.

Specifically, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.50, for a total value of $546,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 276,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,683,555. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on AAOI shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Northland Securities restated a "market perform" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.63. The company has a market cap of $10.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -210.08 and a beta of 3.23. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $86.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.22.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.11. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 8.39% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. The business had revenue of $134.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.02) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAOI. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 5,208.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,512,309 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $122,439,000 after acquiring an additional 3,446,150 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 5,321.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,229,757 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $77,730,000 after acquiring an additional 2,188,630 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 157.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,699,855 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $59,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038,775 shares during the last quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 1,700,900 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $59,293,000 after purchasing an additional 875,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,923,000. 61.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Applied Optoelectronics

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc develops and manufactures high-speed fiber-optic networking products designed to support the growing bandwidth demands of data centers, telecommunications carriers and internet content providers. The company's core offerings include pluggable optical transceiver modules, transponders and optical components that enable data transmission at rates ranging from 1G to 400G. These products are used to facilitate long-haul, metro and intra-data center connectivity, addressing the need for scalable, low-latency and energy-efficient solutions in modern network infrastructures.

The company's product portfolio spans small-form factor pluggable modules such as SFP+, QSFP+ and QSFP28 units, as well as more advanced form factors like CFP2 and OSFP for ultra-high-speed applications.

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